I have been obsessed at the idea of solo trip for a long time. Even when I planned for it twice, it became a trip either with dad (Sadhana Forest) or mom (Coimbatore). I never imagined my first solo trip would be a work trip. So, I wrote and published a very formal blog about this work trip.
But I had more to write about it! So, here I am to take you through the happy and gritty moments of my journey.
Day 1 - Chennai to Jaipur to Sikar
On 21 February 2019, I was destined to visit Jaipur all by my own for the first time. Woke extra early, fretted about what else did I forget to pack and took a metro train to the airport, just when the train was about to reach the Airport station, it halted in the midway. Blank stares between the passengers, sunny bright landscape on the left and the airport infrastructure on the right. Stuck above the roads and being clueless. It was interesting to see the people in the barely filled train finally lifting their faces from the phone and staring at the fellow humans around them to find an answer for the unknown halt.
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| Metro train |
The halt was brief, I reach the airport station and walk a while. The conjunction between the station and airport has a fancy pathway filled with escalators and moving walkways which is also known as an autowalk, travolator, or travelator. Many names for a conveyor belt to move a person from one place to another without any leg kinesis. Mechanising lifestyles. I show my ticket and Government ID to the security and enter towards a self check-in machine.
You can actually self check-in and get a ticket if you only have hand luggage that fits in the cabin above your seat. How I know that? From my boss who once told me about it and I with great courage and curiosity wanted to test this theory and goes to the machine, types the PNR number, checks my name and the machine makes a whirring sound but no ticket came. I was almost in the state of trepidation what if I typed something wrong? Is it even the right machine? Did I just auto cancel my flight reservation?! That's it my boss will never let me fly again. Another whirring goes but this time the sound was different, I got my ticket printed! Every first timer goes through their own journey of discovery I guess, like me figuring out how to automatically self check-in from a machine.
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| I took this picture to calm myself from the self check-in incident |
Grabs my ticket, goes to the airport, so much time in hand, roams around a bit and observes. There is an interesting phenomena to observe at airports. The people, place, the whole vibe was mundane. But I did pictured a few. Because I had all the time in the world to while away.
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| Replica of Mahabalipuram's monument |
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| Colourful hanging lanterns |
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| Tanjore painting |
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| Sculptures |
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| Some more sculptures |
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Boring roof
Did you know?
Some panels fell on the passengers, when the airport was initially opened |
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| Runway |
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| The flight |
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| The window seat |
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| Chennai beneath me |
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| Clouds and the horizon |
So, I had couple of hours to reach Jaipur Airport. One of the perks of work trip is free food and beverage in flight. I got a chicken tikka sandwich and a cold coffee. I was actually starving and this was helpful. Then I took the Flight magazine and started flipping the pages as if I am going to find holy grail in it. I completed this activity within 30 mins. Now I had nothing to do, I resumed to click pictures of sky, so the next set of pictures are my aesthetic view of the sky from the flight window till I reach Jaipur.
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| The calm before the storm kind |
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| Lots of Cloud kind |
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| Interstellar kind |
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| Uh... You can name this whatever kind you want |
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| Aerial view of a lake |
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I think earth is flat
(kidding) |
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The upside down kind?
(Okay I will stop with the crazy names for the skies) |
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| Sunshine! |
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| Some other random lake's aerial view |
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| I have never seen this cloud pattern before |
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| Another lake, can't believe we live beside such a beauty |
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| Behold the aerial view of Rajasthan |
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| Random flight trajectory |
In between the journey, their was this toddler in the front seat who peeped back at me and we played some sort of a hand version of hide and seek and weirdly it helped me pass time. So, half of my day got over in the flight itself. Finally after so many hours of sitting, I got to stand up for my departure. Took my backpack from the cabin above, moved swiftly to departure. The following are something I saw at the departure area.
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| Crafty Cloth Horses |
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| Fancy art Installation or What the heck is this? |
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| Jaipur is famous for rugs, handicrafts and other things to shop |
As I had only hand luggage I drifted towards the exit to catch my ride to reach my final destination - a university in Sikar which is 4 hour car ride from Jaipur. So the second half of the day went in the car itself. The car was arranged by university people and I had to call this car guy to pick me. Apparently, he did not understand my English, I did not understand his Hindi. I tried my best with the broken Hindi Knowledge I got from school and college education. It took a while to figure out he was taking time to reach. Finally, I sat inside the car and was mentally preparing for the upcoming events. Random thought comes up as I had very less free time and most probably won't be visiting Rajasthan any time soon, I thought it would be a good idea to shop right away. I ask the driver guy to take me to an area that has shops or thrift stores that sells locally made handicrafts and textiles to buy as a budget friendly souvenir. He took a huge U-turn and halted in front of a mall nearby to the airport.
Curse of not able to convey thrifty shops in my broken Hindi I guess. I was like "Nahi Nahi Bhaiya" (P.S. The only fluent Hindi Vocab I got, later sentences were messed up attempt using amalgamation of words I knew)
"Sasthe shops.... uh... Bahut! Thoda thoda cost Cheez! Malls meh nahi milta hai, Authentic Rajasthan things... (and some more desperate gibberish)"
I know, that was a futile attempt because he sort of understood some part of it and suddenly calls a group of two girls that are walking by and asks them in Hindi "Hello Ji, There are all kinds of rajasthani things available in this mall right?" They think for a split second, look at each other, giggle a bit and nods and says an unsure casual yes. After this reassurance he immediately says to me in Hindi "See Madam Ji, I told you right all Rajasthani items are available here itself!" I was feeling bad for this guy who clearly wants to help me but also I was internally facepalming myself for even mentioning about shopping to this guy. I then, told him I will check this place out later, he can take me to the university as I want to take rest. He obliged and got little dull. I think he really thought I am a mall person and was super excited to show me the best shopping experience nearby Jaipur Airport but what he didn't predict was my pettiness and interest to buy from local vendors.
Oh well had a long car ride throughout the varied phases of sunset. On the way somewhere between Jaipur and Sikar he stops near a fruit vendor and purchases a fruit that looked like jujube berries (not sure). Then he resumes driving, eats the fruit and offers me some. I, being grown in a very amazing Indian family morals, my instant reaction was to politely say no to this free food. Also because I was thinking about how passengers especially girls and women get drugged or something while travelling alone. For a while I was able to maintain this facade until my stomach gave hunger signals. He again offered me to eat at least one and literally extended one hand with the fruit bag towards me and other hand to the steering wheel, this time I took out of hunger and out of fear that what if he never drives with two hands until I grab few fruits from the bag.
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| Sunset at Jaipur |
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| Sunset at Sikar |
I finally reach the university by dinner time. Its a huge campus exclusively for women students and the infrastructure was top class. Totally blew my perception about a campus near towns and villages. I was received by a faculty member whose smile was so adorable she gave me a vibe like a sister I never had. The Security room near the entrance gate is called "Parlour" I was so humoured by it I even asked her why it is named like that. She simply said she don't know but many college girls mistake the name as beauty parlour and ask where is it in the campus! So, I was not the only one who misunderstood it. She takes me to University Guest House and shows my room. I freshen up a bit and she accompanied me to the dinner hall. Honestly I was so tired and what happened next was a blur in my mind. I just know that she showed me the place I was going to stay at and took me to dinner at their Dining hall which is technically a huge building that required us to walk for a while.
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| The huge dining hall |
She took and passed me a plate. We stand behind a queue of people, picked the food of our choice, went to an empty table, spoke, chuckled and ate food till my stomach said no more. The food was yum. I have a habit of eating slow and less. She assumed I didn't like the food and asked if I require any outside food and all. I just gave a meek laugh telling her I got small appetite and I told her that everyone around us are eating too quick. She laughed and told me as they need to reach classes on time everyday, their eating speed has become super quick. The dining area actually reminded me of the one I saw in Harry Potter movies. Almost the same resemblance, partly because of the arrangement of the chairs and tables I guess.
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I suppose, the look would have been complete,
if there were professors of Hogwarts dining here |
After a good supper, we had a small detour to around the campus alley. We reached a place called Tapovan which is a temple and Spiritual centre at the campus. We were just on time to get our Darshan before the priest was closing the temple doors for the day. Ain't us a bit lucky visiting temples at last minute.
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| The Tapovan |
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Oh it's also called as "The Hermitage"
(Forgive my phone for not able to photograph under poor lightning) |
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| Behold the entrance of Tapovan |
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These tiles reminded me of the flooring at my grandma's house
(Add to your bucket list: Picture things that bring back memories) |
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| The Mandir where we got our blessings |
The night was dark and the stars were super visible. I bet, in cities you can never see such a tantalising night sky. She came along till I reached my room and introduced the guy who I can contact if I require any help during my stay at the university guest house. He showed me the pantry and TV room if in case I get hungry or bored in between. And he gives me the keys, informs that he will come by the next morning and left the place. I lock the main door, was excited about the fact of being alone for hours in this new place, checked out my room, climbed up the spiral stairs, got spooked by the darkness and came back down to the room. I am not that scared of darkness but I didn't want to take chances that the fact I am the only human that's there in this whole guest house and the nearby building is like a km away which made me think it's better to return back to my room before the ghosts of this newly acquainted place starts to haunt me for disturbing their peace.
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| The Spiral staircase |
I call my mom, we spoke for a while and had to repetitively hear her saying "Don't forget to drink water!" as if that's the whole point of life's existence. The place for some reason was super cold and they had this small machine that blows hot air. I always knew how amazing it's like entering a room filled with cold air after roaming under the Chennai's summer. I thought Rajasthan weather would also be similar but to my surprise it was cold like a hill station. This was the first time I felt super cosy to have hot hair blown towards me. Later, I check the room again, browsed Internet for a while and slept off.
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The room!
(Failed attempt on panorama) |
Day 2 - University campus
For some reason I woke precisely after 8 hours of good sleep. Maybe because I was tired, I ate good food or the silence of the location. I woke up to a chill weather. Made myself a warm cup of coffee, felt a puddle of warmth rising within with each sip, took my phone and went outside in my pyjamas. That's when I realised it's freaking cold outside and was grateful I had warm coffee before stepping outside. As the university is exclusively for women I didn't worry much about dress code, modesty and stuff that every girl have to think twice before stepping out in a public space. I actually woke early than the stipulated time in my alarm, had extra free time in hand before getting ready for the tasks of the day. Took a small stroll and pictures of the beautiful plants around the guesthouse.
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| Coffee! |
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| Came out! |
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| The Guesthouse |
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| Random plant |
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| Pathway and the trail of white cars |
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| Flowers! |
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| The brief walk |
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| Another Panorama, Because why not? |
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| some more flowers |
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| Those petals though |
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| Fog |
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Treasure flower
(That's the actual name) |
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| Dewy Petals |
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| One last view at the guest house |
The helper guy who I met yesterday came. I halted my brief exploration and spoke with him for a while. He didn't knew English and I tried my best by saying 'Acha' now and then to acknowledge his enthusiastic talk about the place, Shopping, etc. After speaking for a while it was time for me to get ready for the day's tasks. I went back to my room, checked out the photos I just took and had this impulsive urge to post one of it to boast about the temperature and my solo travel as a status/story on my Instagram and WhatsApp. After posting it, there was this intense sense of happiness within me as if I have accomplished something as great as a moon walk at the moon kinds. Lame reference? Fine, I will give you another one! Have you seen 'Dora the Explorer' where she and her troop after their exploration sing "we did it!" in a super cheerful way? Precisely, that's how I was at that time.
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Temperature
status / story |
So, the happiness didn't last for long. I was getting ready for the day's task to give a work presentation in front of huge student crowd. Totally anxious and not myself. Took a bath, was putting on clothes that's when I heard repetitive knocks at the door. I knew someone would accompany me to breakfast but did not expect they would pick me up directly from the guesthouse. I saw my used clothes lying on the bed in a haphazard manner. Out of a sudden impulse, I took all of them and hurled on the chair. Then, kept my bag in front it to hide my mess. For some reason at that moment, I did not want to be judged or tagged as an untidy person but also doesn't prefer to keep others waiting. In a hurry, I noticed another mess - The towel. Quickly grabs it and hustles to put it to a hanger inside the bathroom, slips and falls down on my lower back. My whole body convulsed out of this newfangled shock.
I pick myself up, wore the rest of my clothes and went towards the door. Walking felt like I was dragging a heavy rock tied around my waist. Opens the door, a faculty member greets me with warm welcome but to his dismay I was an injured guest. He insisted to take me to the clinic inside the campus. Based on the troubled look he had, I assume he was pretty sure I had a fracture. But I tried my best to dismiss the injury like it was nothing, to escape further embarrassment. Maybe because of the cold weather or this is the first time I ever fell and hurt my lower back, the pain was not excruciating. It was more like how the mouth feels post anaesthesia on a dental visit. The faculty member took me to the doctor and he introduces me as the university's guest. I was totally blank and unprepared on how to react to this new found humiliating mishap. I just explained what happened with meek grin and in the process of explaining the doctor noticed I had two clean cuts under my right arm oozing with blood which was like as if I quarrelled with wolverine.
The doctor gave me some tablets and instructed the nurse to plaster a visibly big white cloth bandage over this minute deep cut. Then she asks me when was the last time I had my tetanus shot. I was clueless and replied 'maybe when I was a school kid'. She was like just to be sure lets give you a tetanus shot. I was having a injection after a long time and was little petrified. But I think the novelty of new medical breakthroughs made injections less painful or I really got thick skin physically and emotionally. I must say having a huge cotton gauze over my arm, felt amazing to boast about. Like it sort of indicated 'Hey guys, look at me. I fell down, got a wound and survived'. I was kind of happy for it because people are more kind and merciful to the helpless and it also felt like a beautiful ice breaker for the clueless introvert in me. Later we went to the dining hall for our breakfast and I felt super conscious about this huge white bandage over my right arm.
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Bread, cornflakes, milk, pasta, Ketchup and Orange Marmalade
(Fun fact: I just love eating orange marmalade) |
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Behold the dining hall
once again for your preview |
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| The other end of the dining hall |
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| The campus |
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The wound and the visibly huge bandage
Don't worry, that brown spot is a pigmented ointment not blood) |
So, I was next taken to another newly built cafeteria where all the chief guests of the day's tech fest were assembled for a chit chat. I was the only women (ahem, the only youngest person) in the room, that's when I realised how awkward it must be for many other women to be a minority group in leading workspaces. The guys kept talking mostly about existing problems in India and boasting about how they did this and that to improve it. I had few thoughts to share but was intimidated by comparing myself to the demographics of the chief guests. A sort of a self doubt that am I qualified enough to contribute in this discussion? Everyone seems to have life experiences twice or thrice my age and I felt do I really deserve to be seated as equal to them? Nevertheless, I did try to overcome my bizarre thoughts and put the motivational quotes I read online to the reality test. I added few points now and then but they were close minded and kept on talking in the same monotonous script which made me realise it's not the gender or how old a person is, it's the vibe and the mutual interests that makes us to have an engaging conversation. Till then, a puff pastry snack and a chocolate cake were my companions in disguise.
As the time for the Inauguration event was nearing, we entered the auditorium filled with people and college girls.
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| The auditorium |
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| I was on the stage!! |
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My name wasn't misspelled
(The happiest thing of the day) |
We seated at the stage and took turns to talk. I was told last minute that it's just a talk not presentation, as the stage will be occupied by the chief guests the presentation can't be projected over us and time constraints were there, internally I was saying to myself a big Uh-Oh. I flew all the way from south to north with a PowerPoint presentation that took me 5 days to prepare and was eager to show off that one skill I was able to beat these age old chief guests and now that opportunity flew away from me. Oh well I was grateful, they were confident about me and allowed me to do the speech even though it was like improv and every word I said there was heartfelt and even mindfelt.
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By the power vested in me!
(Kind of looks like I was part of a Suffragette) |
Later, I received a memento, flower bouquet and came down from the stage. The faculty announced about the day's events and the college girls were all high on anticipation and excitement. Then, I was taken to the Engineering and Technology block of the university.
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| The Engineering block |
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| That Architecture though |
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Can you hear the Victorian music already?
(Kidding, there was no music but look at it being so palatial!) |
As part of the fest there was workshops, posters and hardware competitions. I roamed around and interacted with few college girls about their posters on technology like AI, Machine Learning, Robotic pills, Virtual and Augmented reality, etc. Then had a good opportunity to see new kinds of inventions done by these girls to be a viable products for the world's tomorrow.
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| Posters on Future Tech |
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| Heartbeat sensor using Arduino |
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| Laser security system |
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| Automatic Eye wear on a cap, responds to on and off of the machinery |
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| Hybrid system for rural electrification |
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| Electricity from the kinetic energy of the vehicles on the road |
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| Device with a camera that can be moved using mobile app |
And lot more inventions by girls, were recorded by video and it took me forever to upload here so I choose just to share some pictures of it here. I was amazed by the possibilities out there with IoT, Arduino, Mobile apps, Solar energy and stuff with a pinch of creativity and tech resources like these can solve many world problems. But at the same time I saw the series Black Mirror, it won't be an eternal optimistic choice though. After finishing my tour to the marvels created by the college girls, we were hungry and went to have our lunch. I went back to my room to freshen up a bit.
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| Tried photographing a peacock amidst the domesticated woods |
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| Arctotis /African Daisy |
Remember my dismay of not being able to show my PowerPoint presentation? Well the faculty were kind enough that they arranged for a separate slot to present it to the girls after the lunch. I was exhilarated to present what I actually prepared, followed by an interesting brainstorming session. Even though I did not present in front of the esteemed people, I was happy it sort of reached it's intended audience. Sometimes things may not go exactly how we imagine but if we really believe in it, it might happen in an alternative form. With that we came to the end of my presentation and took a group picture. The original itinerary for me was to do the presentation and return back on the same day but I didn't get ticket on that day. So, I was glad for the extra time to spend with the aspiring girls and had some more time to relax and spend at the campus.
A student was assigned to accompany me to show around the campus. She asked if we can see the library first and I could see a glint on her eyes at the mention of the word 'library.' I told her yeah we can but internally, I was like - 'Oh my god! Yes please!!' So, the reason why I was so excited to visit the library was because I never been to one inside a huge university campus. The back story is, the college I studied in never had a big library, heck the campus was so small outsiders used to call it an educational apartment and the school I studied had a non existential library i.e. mentioned on brochures but not present at the school. During School, I had hints of interest in reading and writing but it was diminished by the ideology that it might outcast me from my classmates. The very thought of getting mocked or bullied for being different in terms of appearance, thoughts, ideas, etc was daunting.
Also, the library staff at my college were so rude and shrewd that I used to enter only when they weren't looking. I used to think maybe the code of conduct for librarians are to treat it's readers with staunch disgust while entering the premises they were in-charge of, so that they won't have much work to do. But that hypothesis got debugged when I saw them greet few students with happy smiles but for other students with obnoxious grimace as if we don't deserve to be there. Don't worry I still believe in the magic of libraries and books. In this world, sometimes it's the people who make you squirm so much that sometimes you let go of an interest.
Back to me roaming around in the library shelves filled with all kinds of books. We took a short stroll and ended up at English literature section. Turns out the girl who was accompanying me was also into books that has fiction. She was showing me around her favourites and I saw a book which I never thought wrote by J.K. Rowling. I am into reading and learning but not a bookoholic. We then came out of the building and roamed towards a lake she mentioned about. On the way, we spoke about so many things and came to discover we both were born on same year. I think now she also would got an idea of how unusual it was for me being called Ma'am when both of us are of same age. Nevertheless, we shared our mutual interests on blogging and arrived to the lake. It was beautiful.
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| tête-à -tête at the lake |
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When I tried taking picture of birds
Sometimes my phone camera gets a life of it's own |
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| I would have never believed if someone told this was Rajasthan |
She told me the college created this lake to bring in a ecosystem of different bird species and other biodiversity at the campus. I did spot some unusual birds, for a person from Chennai like me any bird apart from crows and pigeons are unusual I guess. Oh the place was surrounded by smooth breeze and a variety of flowers on the sidewalk. We finished our conversations and I really had a good time.
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| Red poppy flowers |
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Prayer wheels
(Nope I didn't visit Tibet, It was just part of the college architecture) |
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| Peacock! |
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| When it got scared of us approaching towards it |
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| Then it got clueless about which direction to go |
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| Then became standstill, as we were moving farther |
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Such beautiful sight
(feels like being teleported to some place in Anime) |
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| Don't know what flowers are these but so beautiful |
We both had some snacks at the cafeteria and continued talking about TV series, Indian parents, etc. After the break, we walk again to see sheeps on our way. I have never seen a sheep for real before and they seemed unfamiliar to me. I asked what's the sheep for? Even she had no idea. I guess, if you have the space and money you can have whatever barn animals you want.
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| Sheep, for real! |
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I tried to say hi and all came in a group
(They thought we have fodder) |
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| But they got disappointed and went back to their original place |
The sun was setting, it was beginning to get colder, she accompanied me till the guest house and left. I never thought I would have such lovely conversations with a random engineering student in Sikar. A peculiar memory for keepsake. I totally forgot to tell you that after the presentation with the students they gave me few gifts which I never expected. I am not much of a gift person because it makes me feel obliged to gift back something and I don't have the heart to select and give materialistic stuff to people. I am a huge keep things to myself and don't buy unless required person. This one time I tried gifting for a friend's marriage. I knew she was into jewellery. I went to nearby shop, bought a pendant with a blue crystal and intricate detailing. Then thought she might require a chain to wear it, so bought a steel chain and then asked the shop lady to gift wrap it. She was like will you also buy a box so that it can easily be gift-wrapped. I am clueless about gifts and gift wrapping. And it was getting late to reach her wedding reception spot, so I said yes. In a hurry, I pick the box wrapped with shiny sheet and sprint towards the bus stop to reach the venue. What happens next is typical of me. I met my buddies, laughed and eventually forgot to give the bride the gift. When I came home I realised how much I really loved this pendant that I chose. I don't wear it, that's another story but still it is some sort of possession like a Gollum saying 'My precious'.
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| Memento and the gifts |
I was browsing Internet, texting few people back home who almost thought I am either avoiding them or got dead or something. Truth is no one knew I was on a trip until I uploaded a story / status. Later the faculty member came and took me to the dining place for dinner. We met her other teaching buddies who shared about their stories and agonies of being the hostel wardens for so many girls at the campus. It was amusing to know what they had to do along with teaching. One last glimpse over the campus and I return to the guest house to pack my things as I leave this place next morning.
Day 3 - Jaipur to Chennai
I woke up super early because Jaipur was 3 hour car ride and I wanted to visit at least one tourist place before leaving this place that is thousands of miles away from home. Made myself a cup of coffee and I was ready to say goodbye to this place. That's when I receive a message in my phone, saying my flight schedule got delayed. Instead of being annoyed I was happy for bonus time to visit some more places in Jaipur. The student who showed me the campus around also joined me as her parents live in Jaipur and help me roam Jaipur on the way.
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| Moon amidst the Pitch black sky |
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| Weather update |
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Sunrise & the car guy's speed
What kind of grudge did this guy have on me? |
We spoke for a while about our families and lives. Then both of us took micro naps. I was hungry all of a sudden. I am not a breakfast person. Many have told me that breakfast is the epitome of all the meals of the day but not to me. I actually can't eat unless I do some activity or expended some energy. I receive a call from the airlines to make sure I got informed about my flight delay. I was calculating which time should I plan on wrapping my tour around the city to catch my flight on time. I am terrible at anything with numbers and approximately calculated before 1 pm. On our way the car guy stopped at a hotel for our breakfast, luckily my hunger woes were fulfilled. We had a Aloo Paratha with orange coloured mildly spicy side dish called Lahsun chutney paired with Chai. I have to say breakfast was yum.
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Breakfast
Forgot to take picture along with the chutney though - Because Hunger |
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| After some more travelling we reach - Jaipur! |
As the flight schedule delayed, we got so much time to roam. We asked if the cab guy can drop us at the airport after we visit all these places. He didn't budge, he repeatedly said one thing which is 'I was told to drop you at Jaipur and come back'. So, that's how I ended up roaming the Mahals and bustling streets of Jaipur while carrying my heavy backpack.
So, that's all the things I saw at Jantar Mantar. True to it's name, it was totally a Jantar Mantar for me to understand what they were! The places to visit was over and the last thing to do was shopping. I am not much of a shopping person but based on the Internet hype about Jaipur handicrafts and Clothing, I thought of giving it a try. We came out and the girl who was accompanying me wanted to get some cash from ATM. We walk for a while and reach the ATM. Then she wanted to buy some sweets for her family. We walk through a street filled with extravagant wedding attires and reach the sweet shop. The shop basically sells only one sweet and it's apparently super famous that during Diwali they get flooded by customers. I also bought some to take home.
I saw the time and it was getting bit late to catch my flight but the pettiness in me was making me to explore a bit and purchase few things for good deal. Then I changed my mind to maybe a few kurtas for my daily wear. We sped our walking and both of us were clueless about where to go for what I needed. A rickshaw guy stops by, tells us he knows a garments shop and will cost the ride for 20 rupees. The girl said it sounds like better option than walking and we took the ride. He tells us fancy words like factory outlet and whole lot of cooked up stories. I knew I was getting late than the stipulated time to reach the airport but I trusted this random rickshaw guy but it was a super bad idea.
As you know, I was injured on my back by falling in the bathroom. It was getting worse. Every movement of the rickshaw was like lathi charge to my hip bone. The pain was excruciating. And the heavy backpack of mine was of no help either. I was having second thoughts like maybe I should have skipped sightseeing, listen to the previous cab guy, went straight to airport and should have waited for 4 hours for my flight departure instead of all this ordeal. I ask the rickshaw guy if the place he was taking us is nearby airport because he was riding forever and I wasn't sure if he himself knows where he was taking us. He says the same useless sales pitch all over again.
He ended up dropping us at a showroom that has stuff I need at prices I did not want to purchase. Basically huge waste of time. I was now in panic mode of what if I miss my flight and get stuck in Jaipur? The girl saw the tremor of panic I was in, she quickly took a call for action on booking a cab to airport. Apparently the streets are narrow and busy. It took a while for the cab to arrive. We hop in and I call the airline customer service to inform that I might reach the airport few minutes late. The airline guy with great sincerity and patience asks my PNR number. Then with lots of trepidation, he tells me "Ma'am you are supposed to be in the airport now! Please reach as soon as possible!" And I was telling him "Yes, I know but the traffic is not letting me reach quick and can I know if there is a possibility of informing that a passenger will be late" He says again with anxious tone "Ma'am I cannot do anything. I will inform them but can't confirm that they will wait for you." I say "Okay that's alright, please inform them. Thanks."
The girl and me was urging the cab guy to ride fast but he had to stop at a signal and obey traffic rules like an ulterior ritual. I say a quick goodbye and sorry for such a bad memory for the girl. Surprisingly, she was undeterred and focused on making me reach home safe. Like some sort of athlete, I was ready to sprint as soon as the cab reaches the departure area. The airport staff didn't allow me to take my flight as the security check has been over as per schedule. I was in a shock. Horrible thoughts raced my mind. Like did I just wasted a flight ticket? I don't even have the amount to buy a train ticket to reach Chennai and I don't have any other means for my people to transfer some money. Don't get me wrong, this was my first time taking a return flight alone. And I am bad with numbers which kind of made me miscalculate the time based on the delay in schedule messages which confused me to reach at 1 pm instead of 12 pm and missed my flight.
I call my office and narrate the whole story to the travel lady. She spoke with the airline people and made them understand my situation. They informed me the previous ticket can be redeemed with the next flight which departs around 9:30 pm and I might need to pay any extra charges. Nightmare - that's what I would call that moment. I am usually not the person that likes to spend money lavishly. Thankfully, I had enough petty cash to pay for the extra charges. I was super scared and hesitant to inform what just happened to my boss. The call rang 'tring tring' and I was having no strength to fight back the tension building up inside my head. I repeat the story to my boss and wait for the reply. After hearing, my boss replied 'Immediately go purchase the ticket, secure a flight seat and get home safe.' I am so grateful at that vulnerable moment instead of scolding me for my failure, my boss guided me for what to do next. How amazing the world can be if we get more people like that!
Got my ticket and couple of hours to waste inside the airport. 7 hours to be precise. After all I went through I did not dare to leave the airport to use this extra time on roaming the Jaipur. So, explored Jaipur airport in the meantime. Unfortunately it's a small airport. I walked around, filled water, and sat near phone charging area. I spotted few pigeons going inside the airport infrastructure like it's some unprotected open land. Inform my mom about my arrival getting delayed and she spoke for a while slandering the airline people for not informing check in time along with delay in flight departure time. If this was a movie, the protagonist probably cries like Kangana Ranaut in the film Queen on her Paris trip. But I couldn't. More than sadness of the unfortunate incident, a mix of despair and anger succumbed my tears. I was hungry. No will to go out and no money to afford food inside the airport. Luckily my dad bought and made me compulsorily keep 4 cream buns while packing in Chennai. Thankfully I had it for lunch. Then got tired and slept for a while. Perks of having a stuffed backpack would be it is a pretty comfortable makeshift pillow.
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| I woke up to this: Floor, Evening sun and boredom |
I walk around again, observed the security dog and came back to seating place. Then went to the fancy handicraft shop inside the airport and had this awkward uneasy thing of telling the salesgirl I am not buying anything. Then came back and started watching movies. Finished that and a random old Tamil guy who was tad bit creepy started conversing with me. I was so bored I even started talking to him, he was called by his airlines to collect his ticket because of delay on their airlines too. Thankfully he left for a brief moment. I saw some other movie and looking around. Then, I spoke with a Japanese guy who is visiting India for his thesis work on agricultural practices. I was recommending to him about Sadana forest near Auroville. The old guy returns and he resumed the mundane discussion. I checked the time and it was almost start for entering for departure.
After the security search and entering the next waiting room, I was damn eager to get home. This side of the airport was crowded maybe because it's a peak hour time for air passengers. There was other shops and few floors to see in this side of the airport. Before 1 hour of getting inside the plane, I give a call to my mom informing I might reach Chennai by 1:30 am. Guess what my mom said! 'Drink more water Sunayana.' So, I waited some more. Finally it was my turn to get into the bus that drops me at my flight. The old Tamil guy also joins in the same bus and says he searched for me and couldn't find me. Internally I was like 'Smh. I was roaming around the tiny airport just to avoid encountering this guy again.' I replied 'Oh. Okay...' and some more clueless wry smiles. He was telling me about his upcoming Dubai trip and will like to have me alone join him there. Also, he mentions some special liking towards me to pamper and send me gifts. That's when it struck the creep alert in me and I thought better move away from this guy as soon as possible. How can a random old guy explicitly talk such stuff to a random stranger he meets at airport? Well, that's how it happens and I live to tell this tale.
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| Finally the flight! |
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| Goodbye Jaipur airport |
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| Jaipur |
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| My Chennai |
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| Mild Turbulence |
Landed safely at Chennai Airport. There are some interesting things people often miss to admire at the domestic arrival section of Chennai airport.
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| Music |
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| Dance |
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| Costumes |
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| Culture |
My dad picks me up and I share briefly about how was the trip during the car ride. Enters home, sees my mom and brother in sound sleep. Goes to my bed and get relieved from the smell of home in those sheets.
Some important events post trip:
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Healing
In Tamil they say Veera Thazhumbu, which means Braveness Scar
This is my braveness scar to remember my solo trip |
Apparently, my mom was too worried that she took me to an orthopaedic who was amused and told us he never thought he would get a chance to treat paediatric patients. Apparently I sprained my sacroiliac joint and he even gave me medical leave receipt of 1 month. But I can't stay at one place doing nothing, so I didn't even bother using it to get extended vacation from office.
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| Me in Rajasthan's local news |
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At home, a tomato plant out of nowhere grew up
which bloomed and gave tomatoes
Miracles do happen |
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Attempt at hydroponics, I named the bamboo Groot
Before Groot had the chance to die on it's own,
my mom accidentally broke the tube & it died
RIP Groot |
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PG Graduation robe and pledge
Behold the Sunayana who studied
B.Sc. Food Science and M.A. Human Resources |
To be honest I was under the episodes of melancholy and depression during my Post graduation life. It wasn't easy for me and for the people around me either. To know more on this you can read my Vythri trip blog. I was so liberated to know that I graduated from the shackles of it that I even put on a status / story on it!
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| Done and dusted |
Took me few days to complete this blog but the procrastination made me complete this after 4 months. Oh well, meet you until with another blog on a new life experience of mine! Till then there was plenty of things to read and assimilate from the above things about my life. Take a break from it. Have some me time and do something good you haven't done before!
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